Davao City

posted on Monday, August 29, 2016

It was a trip not meant to happen in 2013. A planned adventure in Davao with Ling and my friend, Yna. Booked plane tickets twice and even rescheduled the itinerary...but it seemed the circumstances then weren’t simply in our favor.

Fast-forward three years later, I was finally Davao-bound to cover Kadayawan 2016. And though purely work-related, my first trip to Davao was still quite an adventure.

Three things stood out for me during the trip. First up was how organized the events were carried out. For three consecutive days, we've covered the highlights of the city’s annual festival namely the Subang Sinugdanan (tribal fluvial parade), Indak indak sa Kadalanan (street dancing) and Pamulak sa Kadayawan (flower float parade). We were up and shooting as early as 7 in the morning up to dinnertime. Nakakapagod pero busog naman ang mga mata. I've never seen so much colorful costumes and floats plus the constant smiles of not only the participants but of the tourists watching as well. Didn't realize knowing the 11 tribes comprising Mindanao’s rich ethnicity can be this entertaining.

Secondly, one thing anyone couldn't ignore about Davao is how good their food is. Eating was our only luxury in a very hectic shoot schedule and we sure took our time enjoying the city's mouth-watering restaurants. Don't miss dining in Luz Kinilaw (try their best tasting Kinilaw), Tuna Express, Delongtes, Liza’s and Conching’s (famous for their native chicken). These mentioned restos serve Davao’s renowned dishes namely imbao (seashells), bihod (tuna’s eggs) and bagaybay (tuna’s sperm sacs).

Lastly, Davao is not branded as Duterte City for nothing. City ordinances like simply wearing the seatbelt and no smoking in public places are strictly implemented. And just as Davaoeno's take pride in following these policies, they're most proud of fellow Mindanaoan President Rodrigo Duterte whose image was often seen in floats paraded during the Kadayawan 2016. The success of the festival was in a way mirroring what Duterte City can deliver coming from a local government level.

It was no wonder then that most of the foreigners we’ve interviewed have only good things to say about Davao. A Swedish guy even shared that he fell in love with the city after staying there for 2 ½ months. As for me, it just took me 3 days and I’ll definitely be back (to dive!).